Trump may be called to testify at ally's foreign agent trial, judge says
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[September 20, 2022]
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former President Donald
Trump may be called as a witness at the criminal trial of Thomas
Barrack, a private equity investor and former Trump fundraiser charged
with acting as an unregistered agent for the United Arab Emirates, a
U.S. judge said on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn told several prospective
jurors for Barrack's trial about the prospect of Trump testifying to
gauge whether they might be biased against the defendant.
Prosecutors said Barrack, a former chairman of the company now called
DigitalBridge Group Inc, tried to exploit his ties to Trump to advance
UAE interests, without disclosing his efforts to the U.S. attorney
general as the law requires. Barrack raised money for Trump during the
2016 presidential campaign and chaired Trump's 2017 inaugural committee.
Barrack, 75, has pleaded not guilty, as has his former assistant and
co-defendant Matthew Grimes. Both intend to argue that their
interactions with UAE officials were part of their work, and Barrack's
lawyers have said the U.S. State Department, and Trump himself, knew of
his contacts with Middle East officials.
Any testimony by Trump would come as the Republican
businessman-turned-politician faces a number of legal issues including a
federal investigation into his handling of presidential records after
leaving office and a New York state trial in October of his family
company on tax fraud charges.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Sep/20/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
A lawyer and a spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Barrack's lawyers in an Aug. 26 court filing said Trump and members of
his administration "cannot be ruled out as potential witnesses."
Twelve jurors and four alternates are to be selected to serve in the
trial, which is expected to last about one month.
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![](../images/092022PIX/news_n91.jpg)
Tom Barrack watches jury selection in a
courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S. September 19, 2022. Tom
Barrack, a private equity executive and onetime fundraiser for
former President Donald Trump is charged with acting as a foreign
agent without notifying the U.S. government as required.
REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Sep/20/images/ads/current/graue_22SILVERADO_061822.png)
Prosecutors believe UAE officials gave Barrack input about what to
say in television interviews and what Trump should say in a 2016
energy policy speech, and directed him to promote the interests of
Saudi Arabia, a UAE ally.
Barrack was charged last year with acting as a foreign agent,
conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements in an
FBI interview. The foreign agent charge carries a maximum 10-year
prison sentence.
Cogan dismissed one prospective juror who said she did not like
Trump, prompting the judge to ask if she could set her feelings
aside.
"Subconsciously, I have no control," she said. "Consciously, I want
to be fair and impartial."
Other prospective jurors were deemed fit to serve after they said
their views about Trump would not affect how they weighed evidence.
One such juror said on a questionnaire that Trump was his
least-admired public figure for "embarrassing our country and trying
to steal an election." Another said in court he believed "Trump is
better than Biden," referring to President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Barrack was arrested in Los Angeles but has been free on $250
million bond. Another co-defendant, Emirati businessman Rashid Al
Malik, is at large.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and
Jonathan Oatis)
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